Stranded
by FANpire1120
Summary: Bella needs to get home for Christmas, but finds herself in a very unfortuante position when a blizzard is getting ready to hit. Lucky for her, getting stranded isn't so bad. AH
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

**Hey everybody!! This is just a short little fanfiction that I thought up in the middle of a snow storm! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

BPOV

"Dad, seriously don't worry, I'll be fine." I rolled my eyes as I tried to convince Charlie that I would be able to make it for Christmas, even if there was a pending blizzard. This was a ridiculous conversation. He knew very well that I would be there no matter what the weather was like. I missed Christmas last year, and there is no way I was going to miss it two years in a row. We had been going around and around about this for the last 10 minutes and I was starting to get frustrated.

"Bells, please don't come if you don't think it's safe. I haven't been out of the house so I don't know how bad the roads are, but I am looking at the weather channel right now and they say it could get really messy." He had already mentioned this about 6 minutes ago.

"Dad, seriously, I'll be fine. I've driven in the snow and ice before, you've taught me well. I promise this is not a big deal." I said this in my most stern "Bella voice" and hoped he would be convinced and stop worrying.

"Okay, if you're sure. Please, please be careful Bella. If there is any point where it gets too bad, just call me and I will meet you half way or something."

"Okay Dad, I promise" With that I hung up the phone, grabbed my bags, and left my dorm.

------------

I made that call six hours ago. I have been driving on this God forsaken road for the past _six hours_ and I still have a couple hours to go. Who would have thought that there would be the biggest snow storm the state of Washington has seen in at least 20 years right before Christmas when everyone is trying to get back into their respective towns? I mean the trip from Seattle University should NOT be taking this long.

In a moment of pure frustration, I turned off onto a back road instead of suffering through this bumper to bumper traffic for another 3 hours. The road was small and snow-covered, just as I had suspected it would be. The driver of the car behind me followed my lead and pulled onto the back road behind me. I knew it wasn't the best idea to be going this way with the weather the way it was, but Charlie is probably getting worried and I really couldn't wait to see him. My phone didn't have service right now so I couldn't call him. He is probably freaking out.

I hadn't been home in the past two years as much I should have been. Guilt began to creep up on me as I thought about Charlie living alone while I had been in college for the past two years. I mean, I know he had lived alone for the seventeen years before I moved to Forks, but I think he really got used to someone being around while I had been there. There was really no excuse for my absence.

I was violently pulled back to reality when I felt my truck start sliding around on the slick-snow-covered road. I tried to regain control, but I knew slamming on the brakes would probably send my truck into a fishtail and it might flip. The snow was beating down on my windshield, compromising my vision. I squinted trying to look through the white sheet that was hindering my ability to see 10 feet in front of me. I let my foot off the gas, but the steering wheel on my stupid old truck locked and I no longer had control over the car. I started to panic. I was headed straight for the ditch on the side of the road. As I helplessly tried to regain control of my vehicle, I felt my truck jolt forward as I heard the sickening crunch of metal and my head made violent contact with the steering wheel. The last jolt was all my poor truck needed to go careening head first into the ditch. My head banged against the steering wheel for a second time as my truck hit the ditch.

I slowly lifted my head, all I could hear was a ringing in my ears and I saw smoke coming from the front of my truck. My hand immediately went to the throbbing spot on my forehead. My fingers felt wet and sticky and I realized there was an obscene amount of blood pouring from a gash in my forehead. Everything started to get hazy and it only slightly registered in my mind that someone had jerked open the driver's side door of my truck. I felt my eyes begin to droop as I succumbed to the darkness. I distantly heard someone yelling at me and grabbing my arm, but all I saw was black.

**A/N: I need feedback. Tell me what you think!!!! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

EPOV

I knew that getting back into Forks was going to be a cluster and a massive headache, but I didn't dream it would be this bad. I had been in traffic for the past 6 hours and the snow storm was only getting worse. I hadn't lived in the state of Washington for long, but I had been back and forth between Seattle and Forks enough to know that I had spent an excessive, obscene amount of time on the road today. It normally only takes me three and a half hours or so to get back to my family in Forks.

I told Carlisle and Esme I would be home around 7:00, but it is fast approaching 10:00 and I am still not even close. I let out a frustrated sigh as I looked in front of me at the miles of brake lights I was stuck behind. I looked down at my ipod and tried to find a song that would calm me down. Out of the corner of my eye I actually saw some movement on the road. I looked up and saw the truck in front of me turn off onto a back road.

Without even thinking, I followed suit. There was no way I was going to stay in that line of traffic for another second. I would just follow this back road and readjust my GPS accordingly. I stole a glance at my iPod, still looking for a song, and when I finally found one I hit the button and Claire De Lune filled my car.

The person in front of me was going annoyingly slow. I mean, I understand there is a lot of snow and it can be a little icy at times, but was this speed really necessary? I looked down at my speedometer and realized that the person was going about 40 miles per hour, fine, it wasn't _that_ slow. It felt slow, though. I wouldn't call myself a speed demon, but I definitely would be going a little faster than this. I had places to be. I crept up on the person's bumper and admittedly began tailgating them. I realized this wasn't the most mature thing to do or the most helpful in this situation, but I really, really just wanted to get home.

Suddenly the person in front of me started swerving and seemingly lost control of the truck. Without thinking I hit the brakes, which of course was a big mistake. I started sliding myself and I couldn't seem to get control back. I tried to avoid hitting them as best I could, but there was no way to avoid it. I had been too close to their bumper to avoid the oncoming collision and I slammed right into the back of their truck. When I hit the back of the truck they crashed right into the ditch on the side of the road. My airbag immediately deployed slamming me in the face. I immediately felt blood begin to gush from my nose and I felt a sharp pain on my forehead.

It all happened so fast, after it was all over, I just sat there in my car with my face in the air bag trying to get a bearing on my surroundings and what had just happened. After a few seconds of uselessness, my brain began to work again. I immediately thought of the driver in the other car. I had to see if they were ok. I flung open the door of my now crunched up Volvo and ran as fast as I could to the other car, not caring about the blood that was surely covering the bottom half of my face. I wiped some of the snow from the driver's side window that had begun to build up and gasped as I looked inside. There was a girl, she was young and she looked like she had hit her head pretty hard. There was blood running down her face from a cut on her forehead and I immediately jerked her door open. Her eyes fluttered closed and for some reason I began yelling at her as I grabbed her arm, not knowing what else to do. I noticed smoke coming out of the hood of her car. I had to get her out.

I pulled on her, but of course, she was buckled in. I reached across her and pressed the button to release her from this death trap. It was, of course, jammed. This truck looked like it was about 30 years old anyway; of course the seat belt would get jammed in a time like this. I tried to move as quickly as possible and I let out a frustrated growl as I tugged on the stupid seat belt. I glanced back up at her face, and saw just how beautiful she was. I didn't even know this girl, but for some reason, I got really pissed off. I was pissed off that this had to happen, I was pissed off that she was hurt, and I was pissed off that this stupid seatbelt was trapping her in here. I gave the seatbelt one last desperate pull and it finally came free. I immediately pulled her from the truck and swiftly carried her limp body to my Volvo.

I opened the passenger side door, leaned the seat back and laid her down. I made sure her neck was straight and her head wasn't in an awkward position. Suddenly I remembered that I had an insane sister that put, not only a first aid kit in my car, but also a fire extinguisher! I ran to the driver's side and popped the trunk I pulled the fire extinguisher from its place and sprinted to the girl's truck. I opened the hood and immediately started spraying it. Granted, that probably wasn't the smartest idea, but it's all I could think to do at the time. The smoke stopped and I started making my way back to my car.

I ran my hands through my hair and put the fire extinguisher back in the trunk. I made my way to the passenger seat and looked down at the girl. She was still out. The blood had started clotting and it began to cake to the side of her face and hair. I grabbed the first aid kit from under the seat and thanked whatever god that would listen that Alice was my sister. I can't believe that I had given her a hard time when she put the first aid kit and fire extinguisher in my car. I never thought I would need it.

I was brought out of my thoughts when the girl started moving. She started shaking her head and her eyes started opening. I held onto her as she started squirming; I didn't want her to move her head too much before I really had a chance to make sure she didn't have any neck or major head injuries. I didn't want anything to get worse. Her eyes lazily came open and I was suddenly mesmerized. My breath caught in my throat as I couldn't look away from the chocolate brown eyes that stared up at me.

**A/N: Review!!!! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

BPOV

I was faintly aware of some sort of rustling coming from far away. Someone was fiddling with something, maybe trying to open something? I wasn't sure. I really didn't feel like opening my eyes. My head was killing me. It felt like my brain was too big for my skull. My ears were still ringing and I felt uncomfortable. I began to move around, but something was holding onto me. I opened my eyes to see what the heck was pinning me down to find the most beautiful pair of green eyes I had ever seen, staring at me.

I am certain I looked like an idiot. I just sat there, staring at him. I didn't even try to say anything. He was the first to speak. "Ummm…are you alright?" hmmm…that was a really great question. A simple question even, but could I think of an answer? No, I couldn't. My brain was not cooperating with me and all I could seem to get out of my mouth was "Uh-um…eh?" Yeah, that's right. I'm an idiot. The only good thing that came from that string of nonsense was the musical laughter that came from him in response. I must have had a weird look on my face because he seemed to have thought maybe I was brain damaged. His laughter stopped abruptly and he shined some sort of light into my eyes.

"Well, I don't think you have a concussion, and if you do, it's only mild. Also, I am assuming no brain damage because brain damage is normally accompanied by a severe concussion, which as I said, you probably don't have." He chuckled. I tried to laugh a little but was still painfully aware of my own awkwardness. Somehow, even after all my blood loss, I had enough blood in my body to have it rush to my cheeks as he laughed at me. His expression softened when he looked down at me and he tried to sit me up a little. I wondered where he got the flashlight when, as I sat up, I saw the first aid kit sitting in his lap. I wanted to ask him where he had gotten it, but I didn't trust myself to speak.

He began wiping the caked on blood that was plastered to the side of my face, and I winced. "Sorry, this might hurt a bit." He said.

"S'alright" I said weakly. Yes! I actually got words out! Granted, they may have been slurred and slightly drunken sounding, but hey, they were words! He laughed and continued blotting the side of my face. I'm sure I looked like an absolute wreck. Ha. No pun intended. I was brought out of my pointless thoughts when Edward began speaking again.

"So, I'm going to ask you some questions to confirm my no brain damage/concussion theory," I nodded. "What's your name?" he continued.

"Bella" I murmured. He seemed to consider my answer for a moment and then began to ask another question.

"Where were you going before this unfortunate little incident occurred?" he asked as he cocked an eyebrow.

"Is this necessary information? Aren't you supposed to ask me what color is the sky? What's the date? What's the year? Or something general like that? Besides, you wouldn't even know if I were answering correctly to any of these questions." I stated. He started laughing and scratched the back of his neck. This was the first time I had noticed that he seemed a little bloodied up too.

"Well, I assume you are alright since you are now mocking me." He chuckled. He finished up cleaning my wound and covered it with a thick white band-aid.

"Thanks" I said. He looked up at me and nodded and began wiping his own face up.

"Here, let me help you with that." I said. He turned to me handing me the first aid kit. I began mopping up the blood only getting slightly queasy because it was dried and not gushing out of him. He closed his eyes and leaned back as I finished.

"What's your name?" I asked him without thinking.

He opened his eyes and looked at me "Edward" he said.

"Do you have a last name, Edward? Or is it, you know, just Edward? Like Cher or Madonna?"

"Cullen" he laughed. "My last name is Cullen. You know, you are awfully feisty for someone that, not five minutes ago, couldn't form words to make a sentence." He stated.

"Aww, well, I got over it and I'm feeling much better thank you for asking." I retorted. That was actually a lie; my head was still killing me, but he didn't have to know that.

"You can make it up to me by telling me your last name, Bella." He looked up through his eyelashes at me. Oh, he was going to play that game. This was going to be fun.

"See, the thing is, I don't really want to tell you my last name." I said. I wasn't really sure why I was withholding this information from him, or acting rather childish, there was really no point to it, but I was. I'm blaming it on the mild concussion that I probably don't have.

"Why not? I told you mine. It's only fair that you tell me yours." He said defiantly. For some reason when he brought up the fairness of the situation, it sparked something in me.

"Please tell me what part of this situation is fair?" I exclaimed. "I mean, I'm sitting here with a big-ass bandage on my face with a complete stranger, I am looking at my only mode of transportation sitting in a freaking ditch, it's the day before Christmas Eve, my father is probably losing his mind, I don't have cell phone service and I am cold!" I ranted. He seemed a little shocked by my display; hell, I was a little shocked by my display. But for some reason his shocked expression made me laugh and then he seemed more shocked that I was laughing, which made me laugh harder. It was a very vicious cycle and it probably seemed like I was about 5 years old, but at this point, I couldn't care less. Again, I'm blaming it on the mild concussion.

"Maybe I was wrong about the brain damage assessment" he stated, a little grumpily. Before I knew what I was doing I smacked his arm, not a hard smack, but a smack nonetheless. I immediately withdrew my hand and placed it over my mouth, which was now hanging open. Why, oh why, had I just smacked a complete stranger?! He could kill me! I had no idea what kind of person he was! He looked from my face, to his arm, and to my face again and started cracking up. Actually, cracking up was an understatement, he was laughing so hard it looked rather painful. That was definitely not the reaction I was expecting. His musical laughter filled the car and I just watched him as his face scrunched up and he continued with his fit. He truly was beautiful. I couldn't help but laugh a little myself.

Once he was done with his little episode, he began speaking again. "Well, there isn't much I can do about the 'big-ass bandage' on your head, or the fact that you don't have cell phone service. There is nothing I can do about your truck or that today happens to be the day before Christmas Eve. I don't know your father, but yes, he is probably freaking out. I might not be able to help you with any of those things, but there may be something I can do about you being stuck with a complete stranger. Oh, and I may be able to help with the cold part too." He gave me a crooked smile and I am pretty sure I melted, just a little.

**A/N: I wasn't sure about this chapter, but posted it anyway. I hope I didn't lose anyone…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

BPOV

I looked at my cell phone and rolled my eyes as I saw the little "low battery" signal flashing. Great. Well, I guess that would make sense because I was running around in the snow and ice for the last ten minutes trying to get service. Well, I guess I wasn't technically the one doing the running. Edward didn't want me to be running around when I hadn't received "proper medical attention" so he ran around with both our cell phones in the air. It was actually really funny, and ridiculously cute, but his cuteness somehow didn't affect the signal. We were stuck.

We decided to just take it easy and sit in his car and try and keep warm until a random passerby comes along. Here's hoping. I sat in the passenger's seat and Edward sat in the driver's seat with his head back and one of his ipod ear buds in. I sat there with my head back as well sifting through his many songs when I just decided to keep it on the song it was already set to, Claire De Lune. I loved this song; it reminded me of Renee. I sighed and shut my eyes.

I was pleasantly surprised when Edward began humming to the music. I sneaked a glance at him, but after about a minute, I was just staring. His hair was messy and slightly wet from the snow. His perfectly sculpted cheek bones and nose were pink from the cold. His eyelashes were long enough to be the envy of many girls I knew and his lips were turned up at the corners as he seemed to get lost in the music. I brought my knees up to my chest and shivered a bit. Out of all the people I could be stranded with right now, I was damn lucky it was him. I found myself wanting to know more about him. I wanted to ask him questions, not only to see what he would say in return, but also just to hear him talk. I felt like I had known him far longer than less than a few hours and we hadn't even spoken that much. Was it normal to have a connection like this with someone you barely know? Maybe this is just the reaction people have when they are in a mildly life threatening situation with someone.

"Edward?" I didn't want to ruin the comfortable silence that we had fallen into, but I also wanted to talk to him and get to know him.

"Yeah?" He said as he looked over at me.

"Do you think someone's going to find us?" When I said his name I wasn't completely sure what I was going to ask him, but that was the question that came out of my mouth. Not the most happy or uplifting question, but I guess either way it had to be addressed by someone. This was the first time that I had actually thought about the possibility of someone not finding us, but it was getting colder and the snow was beginning to really pile up. My nerves were beginning to get the best of me.

"I sure as hell hope so." He said meekly. He looked over at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. "So, what's your story Bella?"

"Ummm" I gave him a nervous chuckle and a quick glance, but continued "Hmmm…It's more difficult than you might think it is, summing up your life in a couple sentences. Well…I used to live with my mom in Phoenix. I moved to the ridiculously rainy state of Washington when I was 17 and moved in with my dad."

"Why did you want to move and live with your dad?"

"My mom and her boyfriend were getting pretty serious and—"

"You didn't like the guy?"

"No, I liked Phil just fine; it was just that he's a minor league baseball player, which caused him to travel. I could tell my mom wanted to go with him and I felt like I was tying her down, so I moved here and moved in with my dad." I said.

"Oh." He seemed to consider what I had said. "That was very selfless of you. Do you like living with your dad?"

"Yeah, he's great, I miss him a lot. The tough thing about college is just that being away from him is pretty hard. It's difficult for me to find enough time to come back and see him on the weekends, but I should really come home and see him more often. I mean, I was away from him for the good portion of the seventeen years that I spent in Phoenix, with the exception of the occasional summer visit, but when I moved here we got really close. I guess we just kind of got used to having one another around." I said with a shrug. " So, your turn." He gave me a beautiful crooked smile and I turned so I was facing him with my back against the door and my chin on my knees. I looked at him expectantly and he laughed.

"There's not really much to say. I moved here with my family a couple of years ago, basically the summer before I started college."

"Where did you live before?" I asked.

"We lived in Chicago. Carlisle, my dad, worked at a hospital there, but I don't really think he liked the big city kind of life, so we moved to a smaller town here. He seems much happier; we can all tell a difference." He stated.

"Wait…all? Do you have brothers or sisters?" I asked.

"Yeah, I have a younger sister named Alice. She's still in high school; she's a senior, though, so she's almost done. I also have an older brother, Emmet, who is in his last year of college."

"Does he go to the same college as you?"

"Yeah, we both go to Washington State. It's really nice to have at least one familiar person around. What about you, do you have any brothers or sisters?" He asked.

"Nope. When I'm home it's just me and my dad. I have another question for you, though." I hesitated, not wanting to touch on a nerve or anything. "Why do you call your dad Carlisle? I mean, you don't have to answer that question if you don't want to—it's just that I occasionally catch myself calling my dad Charlie out of habit. You know, before two years ago, I didn't really consider him to be much of a dad because I never really saw him, so I just always called him Charlie..." I started to ramble but when he started laughing it sufficiently shut me up.

"It's ok. I'm not offended by your question. I just call him Carlisle because he isn't my real dad. He and my mom, Esme, adopted my brother and sister and me when we were little. I consider them my parents and love them with all my heart, I just tend to call them by there actual names. It's not intended to be a slight or offensive in any way, it's just, like you said, habit." He finished. "By the way, if you ever happen to be in a mall somewhere and you see a tiny girl with spiky black hair that you would describe as what a pixie might look like, you can thank her for the first aid kit and fire extinguisher that probably saved our lives." He said with a chuckle.

"Wait, what? You lost me, I'm confused." My brow creased and he laughed at my confused expression.

"My sister, Alice, is a shopaholic, so if you ever met her it would probably be in a mall, and she is the one who put the first aid kit in my car and the fire extinguisher in the trunk."

"What did you need a fire extinguisher for?"

"Oh, right, you were unconscious when that happened." He paused for a moment and I looked at him expectantly. "You're truck had smoke coming out of it, and I wasn't really sure if it was going to catch on fire and explode or something, so I got you out and extinguished the flames that weren't really there yet with the handy dandy compact fire extinguisher in my trunk." He said rather proudly.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember what had happened. I had a faint memory of smoke that flashed in my mind when he said something about my truck almost catching on fire. My hands flew to my face when I remembered. "I saw the smoke! Right before I passed out…I remember seeing it, but I felt the blood on my forehead and I'm not that great with blood. I'm not sure whether it was the blow to the head that made me pass out or the smell of the blood. Sorry you had to go through all that. Thanks for...um…you know…getting me out." I looked up at him rather sheepishly.

"Bella, it most definitely was not your fault that your truck started smoking or that you were unconscious and couldn't get yourself out. No apologies are necessary. Plus, as ridiculous as this might sound, besides the whole 'someone might not find us' part, I'm really enjoying myself." He looked at me nervously like he was gauging my reaction in some way.

I smiled at him and said "Yeah, me too." He gave me a beautiful smile in return and my smile grew wider. Apparently he liked my answer.

**A/N: hope you guys liked it! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

EPOV

Bella was fast becoming one the most interesting girls I had ever met. She was beautiful and hilarious. We had probably been talking for the past hour or two and I wasn't just going through the motions of a conversation like I normally do. With occasional nodding, and a few 'uh huh's' I was pretty much set for any conversation that may arise. It was nice to be able to really talk to someone. I found myself wanting to know more about her, and in turn, I wanted to tell her about myself as well. I had never had an instant connection with someone like this. It was really amazing, but it was slightly scary at the same time. I didn't really know what it was about her, but she was different, different from any other girl I had dated or even talked to.

"So, what are you majoring in?" She asked.

"Well, I am really into music, so I am trying to work that into a career." She looked surprised. "But of course as a back up plan there is always a medical career."

"So, you want a career that has to do with music, but you have a medical career as a back up plan? I am having a hard time seeing the connection between the two…" she said incredulously.

"I can see how that's a bit of a stretch, but I really love music, and that would be my career of choice, whether it is playing it or composing it, I would be happy. Having a medical career as my fall back is entirely to please my father. I'm pretty sure he's not convinced that a musical career is the way to go, so what would make him happier than to have his son follow in his footsteps?" I said. "So, why did it surprise you when I said that I wanted a musical career?"

She shrugged. "I guess I didn't really peg you as someone who would want something that was so…I don't know…hit or miss. I mean, I'm not saying that it's not a respectable career choice, it's just that when you hear people say that they want to do something like that for the rest of their lives, you kind of think of them as 'dreamers'." She said using air quotes. "I guess what I am trying to say is I really didn't peg you as a dreamer." She finished.

"Is it bad to be a dreamer?" I asked her.

"No, not at all. It just means I have a lot more to learn about you." She said with a small smile. "You're very confusing…" she said more to herself.

"Mysterious?" I said with a chuckle.

She smiled and moved around a bit in her seat. I loved my Volvo, but it wasn't exactly spacious. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her torso still trying to get comfortable.

"Yeah" she laughed. "Mysterious." She whispered with another shiver.

"Do you want my coat? I'm really not that cold and I did promise you I would fix you being cold." I said. I was actually getting concerned.

"Oh, no! Keep your coat. Seriously, I'm fine." I could tell she wasn't fine. She sounded like she was congested and her teeth were chattering.

"Bella, you look ridiculously cold right now. You are not going to convince me that you are fine."

"Ok, I'm a little cold, but I'm not going to take your coat. You would freeze." She said sternly. She looked so determined. It was pretty damn sexy.

"Yeah, well, I don't need it. I've got a sweater on underneath, I'll be ok." I said as I unbuttoned my coat. She protested, but once it was off, I put it on the console that was separating us. She gave me a pointed look, but took it nonetheless. She wrapped it around herself and put her arms through the armholes. It absolutely swallowed her. She scoffed when I started laughing at her.

"What?" she asked

"Nothing, it's just that coat is kind of huge on you, that's all." I laughed again. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Well, I'm pretty sure if it fit me, one or both of us would be feeling pretty insecure right about now, wouldn't you say?" she stated. "But, thanks" she said, "You really didn't have to do that. I'm not that cold." She kind of grumbled the last part to herself. God, she was cute…and stubborn. I chuckled but I was happy that she had accepted my coat without too much of a fight.

She cuddled up in my coat and sighed, I could have sworn I saw her smell it, but that could have just been my mind playing tricks on me. We both fell into a comfortable silence; I felt it was best to leave her to her thoughts. I stole a glance at her and she was looking out the window with a far-off look, her eyes almost glazed over.

As I left her to her thoughts, I was left to my own as well. I couldn't help but let my mind wander a bit. I could think of a couple different ways to keep her warm, but I had a feeling that the mere suggestion of any of them would get me a hard smack in the face. She was small, but I could tell she could do some damage.

"You know Edward…" Bella's tone of voice had changed, it had gotten lower, almost a whisper. I looked over at her with my eyebrow cocked; "There's another way to keep warm in a situation as critical as ours…" she looked up at me through her eyelashes. Did she really just say what I thought she had said? She hadn't exactly said what I thought she was implying, but…maybe. The next two words that she breathed were all it took to confirm my suspicion.

"Body heat."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

BPOV

I couldn't believe that I had said that out loud. I mean, sure I was thinking it, but that wasn't really what I had intended to say when I began talking to him again. Apparently my brain and my mouth need to get a little more in sync. He probably thinks I am a lunatic! Well, it was out there, this was no time to lose my nerve.

Edward just looked at me, stared at me actually. His mouth was hanging open slightly and his eyes were kind of bugging out of his head. He needed to just say something. I didn't care if he told me I was insane, anything was better than him staring at me in silence like this. He shook his head a little and looked over at me again, I'm assuming to see if I was being serious. He seemed to come to that conclusion by the expression on my face. This was probably one of the most humiliating moments of my life, but I kept a strong face on, like I said, this was no time to lose my nerve. I couldn't let him see that my heart was doing jumping jacks inside my chest. All Edward managed to get out when he tried to speak was "Uh…uh…I…um." I couldn't keep it together anymore. I let a little nervous chuckle slip and his eyes immediately snapped back to mine. "Are you…being…serious?" He questioned. He narrowed his eyes at me.

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath, hoping my voice wouldn't crack. "Yes I'm being serious. This is a scientifically proven fact, Edward." I tried to say it with the most confidence I could muster. He seemed to consider my answer for a moment. He ran his hands through his hair and looked completely uncomfortable. I let my resolve slip a little, "I mean, you said you weren't that cold…so…if you really don't want to we don't have to…" I started.

"NO!" he yelled, I jumped a little at the volume of his voice. He gathered himself and started speaking again in a much softer tone "Sorry, it's just…I mean…I am cold…" I chuckled at how flustered he was getting. "And besides, I promised you I would fix you being cold didn't I?" he gave me a crooked smile and I looked down and blushed. I didn't understand how I could suggest we use each other's body heat to stay warm without blushing but then he smiles at me and I blush like crazy, it didn't make sense.

"Yeah, you did." I said looking up at him again. Was this really happening? I mean it was one thing to say it, but to actually do it was completely different. At this point my heart wasn't doing jumping jacks anymore, it was running a full on marathon.

We both stared at one another for an immeasurable moment. It was like I physically couldn't look away. I could feel my cheeks reddening even more, and my breathing had gotten shallow as my heart pounded. I was hoping that it was dark enough inside the car that he couldn't tell. I had subconsciously moved closer to him as I looked into his eyes. He did the same. Before I knew it we were inches apart, his eyes boring into mine. The gap between us was closing fast and I could feel his breath on my face. Right as my eyes were slipping closed I saw a flash of light and we both snapped our heads in the direction it had come from. We saw two headlights barreling toward us and we immediately jumped away from each other. We both flew out of his car as the other car pulled up beside us. It was a police car.

I ran up to Edward's side and the man in the car shined a flash light at us. We both jerked our heads away from the brightness. As I heard the man's voice, I felt my heart skip a beat.

"Bells!!" Charlie exclaimed. He ran over to me and enveloped me in a hug and I'm assuming didn't even notice Edward's presence because he didn't exactly acknowledge him. He pulled back for a moment and I saw that his eyes were wet.

"Dad…how did you even…where did you…are you crying?" I asked, a little surprised. He wiped at his eyes and looked a little sheepish.

"I'm just glad I found you Bells. You scared the hell out of me, you know that?!" he looked a little angry.

"Sorry, I just, took a back road and my truck isn't that good in icy weather and I kind of landed in a ditch," I glanced over at my poor truck. "And luckily Edward was here because if he wasn't you probably would have found me in a very bad state and…" I started rambling.

"Edward?" Charlie cut me off. For the first time he looked to my right and saw the boy I was speaking of. "Oh, didn't see you there" Charlie said. He stuck his hand out and Edward shook it giving him a little smile. "Well, I guess thank yous are in order. I can't thank you enough for taking care of my reckless kid." I rolled my eyes and pushed his shoulder a bit.

"It was no trouble at all, sir." Edward said politely.

"Well, let's get you kids to a hospital to get checked out. I'll get someone to tow your cars." He gave Edward another quick onceover and headed over to his cruiser mumbling to himself. We followed him and I gave Edward a reassuring smile. He returned it and looked down at the ground. We got in the car, me in the passenger seat, and Edward in the back. I looked back at him and chuckled at how he had to scrunch in; I could tell he was extremely uncomfortable. I hoped it wouldn't take us long to get to a hospital.

Charlie snuck a glance in the rearview and then whispered to me. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

"What?! No! Of course he didn't!" Charlie seemed relieved by my words.

"Good, because he would have been a dead man." He stated.

"Well, he didn't so there's no need to flex your muscles, Chief Swan." I hissed back.

He directed his attention back on the road, still sneaking a couple of intimidating glances at Edward through the rearview. We continued the rest of the drive to the hospital in relative silence. I expected Charlie to be a little more talkative than he was, I mean, I hadn't seen him in a while, but after all Charlie was a man of few words. I tried to start conversation but all I got in response were various grunts and "uh huh's". I think he was a little distracted. I sunk a little lower in my seat as I felt the tension growing.

As we pulled into the hospital parking lot I snuck a glance back at Edward as I got out and he looked mildly terrified. I wasn't looking at Charlie the whole time, but I assumed he was giving Edward dirty looks throughout our trip. I wouldn't be surprised if Charlie subtly flashed Edward his gun simply to make a point. And he wondered why I never brought boys home…not that there were any to bring, but still, he needed to give it a rest.

Edward and I followed my dad into the hospital. He went over to the nurses' desk and I took this opportunity to make sure Edward wasn't too freaked out by my possessive father.

"Hey, sorry about that." I started, "My dad can get a little over-protective sometimes."

"It's alright, don't worry about it. Granted, I felt like my life was more in danger in the back seat of that cop car than it was when we were stranded in a blizzard." He chuckled. I rolled my eyes, but it was probably true. Charlie started walking over to us and we immediately stopped talking.

"Bells, someone is going to come and check you out in a second." He glanced over at Edward, "I asked someone to check you out too."

"Thank you, Sir." Edward said with an award winning smile. Charlie grumbled in response and turned his attention back to me.

"Bella, you need to tell me exactly what happened, from start to finish." He instructed.

"Well, I had been driving for six hours and still had a couple more to go…so I tried a short cut." I said hesitantly. Charlie let out an exasperated sigh.

"Bella! Why would you take a short cut when there is a blizzard going on outside?!"

"Ok, I know it was stupid, but I just really wanted to get home and I…" His expression made me shut up.

"Yeah, it was stupid. You wouldn't be in this mess right now if you would have just stayed put like I told you to." He pointed out.

"Do we really have to point fingers here? I wanted to see you for Christmas is that so bad?" I argued.

"No, it's not bad, it's just that maybe next time you should trust my judgment and do what I say." He stated stubbornly.

"Charlie" I drew out his name. "You need to know that I normally have good judgment, it was just clouded by my fear of not seeing you over the holiday." I said giving him my best 'pouty face'.

"Oh, come on. You know that look doesn't work on me anymore. I'm a little insulted that you would try."

"Aw, Dad. You can't be mad at me, it's Christmas!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to go and see if there is a doctor in this hospital that can check you out so we can go home." He said rolling his eyes.

I let out an exasperated sigh and crossed my arms as he turned and headed back over to the nurses' station.

"If it helps, that pout would have most definitely worked on me." Edward whispered in my ear. I was suddenly extremely aware of our close proximity and the memory of what had almost happened in the car clouded my vision. Suddenly, those feelings of insecurity and humiliation came flooding back to me.

"Oh yeah?" I said, looking anywhere but him. "Well, at least it would've worked on somebody. I guess I wore it out when I was younger."

"Bella, should we talk about what happened, or almost happened?" He said. I looked up at him; I actually couldn't believe he was bringing it up. My mouth was kinda hanging open and I was about to say something, but a nurse walked up and began speaking to us, or to put it more accurately, she began speaking to Edward. She was younger and looked like she was fresh out of college. I narrowed my eyes at her as her entire body exuded confidence. She was actually really pretty and I moved a little further away from Edward, not wanting to mess anything up for him. What was I saying? It's not like she would think we were a couple anyway, he was so far out of my reach, our worlds didn't even come close to touching.

"Has someone come to take care of you yet?" She asked as she batted her eyelashes. I caught the double meaning of her words. Edward glanced up at her; I guess not noticing that she had approached him and shook his head.

"Oh, well, if you want to follow me I can get someone." She said batting her eyelashes a little more this time. Seriously, who was this girl? Are you really allowed to hit on people in the hospital? Is there any professionalism left in this world? I felt an arm wrap around my waste and I was pulled closer to Edward.

"Actually, is there anyway she could go first?" he asked her looking down at me. Her eyes got unnaturally wide and she stuttered a bit.

"I-I-yes. I will see what I can do." Edward continued to look at me and I continued to watch her as she rolled her eyes and glared at me. Mature. Real mature. She turned on her heel and went back to the nurses' station.

Edward chuckled, but didn't remove his hand. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Geez…talk about subtlety." I mumbled.

"Hey, are you ok? You look a little pale." Edward asked with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm just not a huge fan of hospitals, never have been." I said giving him a little smile. Charlie began walking over and Edward's hand dropped, I immediately missed his touch. As he approached I noticed he had a doctor in tow.

"Hi, my name is Dr. Goldstein and if it's alright with you, I'd like to check you out first." He gestured to me. I gave Edward a questioning look, but he nodded emphatically and motioned for me to go ahead. I cleared my throat, and looked back at the doctor.

"Yeah, sure. Just make sure he gets checked out too." I said glancing over at Edward. Edward gave me a little smile and I followed the doctor. As I was walked behind him I stole one last glance at Edward. He was watching me as I left, but his eyes moved to my father when Charlie began speaking to him. It hadn't really occurred to me until this point that I probably wouldn't get to see him again, or at least not for very long. Why hadn't I gotten his number or something? Maybe if I was lucky there would be some legal matter with the cars and we would have to meet again for that. How pathetic was that? I was hoping I would have to deal with a legal matter in order to see him again.

The doctor led me to a free bed and told me to sit down. I did as he said and he asked me some routine questions. After running some tests, which took entirely too long, he came to the conclusion that I was fine. He gave me a couple stitches and said I just need to apply ice to the wound and take some aspirin.

When I was all stitched up and Charlie was convinced that I wasn't going to have a brain aneurism as soon as I stepped out of the hospital, we walked back to the lobby where I had left Edward.

I scanned the floor, but my wandering eyes did not find what they were looking for. I didn't see the beautiful boy with green eyes and messy bronze hair. "Dad, where's Edward?" I asked him, panicking a little.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure they are checking him out right now." Charlie began walking to the doors of the hospital. Why was he leaving? We had to wait for Edward to get done.

"Dad, where are you going? We have to wait for him; we can't just leave him here!" I said.

"His dad is coming. The hospital contacted him and he will be taking Edward home."

"oh." My throat was tightening and I lowered my head as I tried to come to grips with the crushing reality that I would never lay eyes on Edward Cullen again. I couldn't lose it here, it would have to wait. I brought my head back up, squared my shoulders, and followed Charlie outside into the bitter cold as I wiped away the single tear that had spilled over.

**A/N: Happy New Year Everybody!! ****I hope everyone had a great night! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

EPOV

As I watched Bella follow the doctor and disappear behind the curtain my heart sank. Her dad was looking at me and my eyes left Bella as he started talking to me.

"The hospital contacted your father, at least, that's what I was told…so…you'll just go home with him then." He informed me.

"Oh, ok, thank you, sir." We sat there in an awkward silence. I was trying to think of a topic that might interest him, but I couldn't come up with anything. I was going to ask him where he was from, but I didn't want him to think I was trying to get information on his daughter through him. I just realized that I had never asked Bella that question in our time together. I hadn't gotten her number, or asked if she had an email address or anything. I ran my hands down my face as I came to the realization that I had basically no way to contact her if I didn't catch her before she left the hospital.

"Well, I am going to go check on Bella." Charlie began to walk off, but for some reason I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. Well, that was kind of stupid. He turned around slowly to face me again. He looked over at my hand, which was still on his shoulder and then back at me. I cleared my throat and quickly removed my hand "Sorry, sir, it's just that I never caught your name. I mean, I know your first name is Charlie, but I never caught your last name."

He looked at me warily "My last name is Swan."

I nodded. "Well, it's nice to meet you Chief Swan." I said with a little smile. I stuck out my hand for a proper shake and he took it. Swan sounded oddly familiar.

"It's nice to meet you too, Edward…?"

"Cullen, sir." He gave me an odd look and then chuckled to himself as he shook my hand.

"Cullen." He stated with another small smile. "I'm going to check on Bella now."

"Ok." I said as he walked away. I chewed on this new information. Ever since Bella hadn't told me her last name I had wanted to know. I mean, I knew she was just messing with me when she wouldn't tell me, but I still wanted to know. Swan. I had heard that name before, but I couldn't for the life of me remember where.

Distracting myself with this new information about Bella wasn't helping the fact that I would probably never see her again. I looked down at the tiles on the hospital floor and began counting them, trying to think about anything besides the heaviness that had settled on my chest or the lump that was forming in my throat. What was happening to me? Why was I falling apart over a girl that a barely knew?

As I counted my 46th tile my eyes landed on a pair of white shoes. I glanced up to see the same nurse as before. Damn. I lost my place. She came closer to me, a little more close to me than necessary, and began speaking.

"I got a doctor for you if you want to follow me, Sir." She said looking around me, I'm assuming to make sure I was alone this time. She seemed pleased when I was.

"Umm…sure." I needed to get checked out and the sooner I did the more chance I would have to be able to catch Bella before she left; I had to. I followed the nurse and she led me to an open bed and pulled the curtain.

"I'll go get the doctor. Is there anything I can help you with first?" She said suggestively. Geez! I mean, it was flattering sure, but she was taking it kind of far.

"You know, I think you should just get the doctor." I said. She narrowed her eyes at me a bit and moved a little closer. I couldn't believe this was happening. "Seriously, I just want to go home and the faster I get checked out by _a doctor_ the faster that will happen, so if you just go and get someone that would be really, really great." I said. She let out an exasperated sigh and blew her bangs out of her eyes.

"Fine. I'll be right back, sir." She said through clenched teeth.

"Thank you."

She came back a couple minutes later with, thank the Lord, a doctor at her side. It was the same doctor that Bella had. They must have had an extremely limited staff.

"Dr. Goldstein?" I asked, my brow furrowing

"Yes, now, let's get you checked out."

"Wait, is Bella gone now?" I asked with urgency in my voice.

"I'm not really at liberty to discuss other patients with you." He said in a condescending tone.

"Come on, I came in with her! You can at least tell me whether or not she left the hospital grounds. I'm not asking about her condition." Dr. Goldstein gave me a pointed look, but sighed and answered my question.

"I believe she left, yes."

"How long ago did she leave?!" I pressed on.

"I'm not sure." He said. He knew, he just didn't want to tell me.

I jumped up from the bed and tore out of the little curtained room and ran to the lobby, hearing the doctor yelling for me to come back. I didn't care, this was my last chance and it was slipping through my fingers. I scanned the floor, but didn't see her anywhere. My green eyes were not met with the brown pools that I was seeking. I ran outside the hospital doors and frantically looked for her dad's police cruiser. After ten minutes of standing in the freezing cold looking at every row of cars at least five times, my head dropped and my chest tightened. I slowly turned on my heel and dejectedly went back into the hospital. I ran my fingers through my hair, a little rougher than necessary, as I tried to calm down. I whipped around to the door again as I heard my name being called. It wasn't the voice I was hoping for.

"Edward!" Carlisle exclaimed.

"Carlisle?! How did you get here so fast?" That was a stupid question, everyone in my family was a speed demon at heart. He chuckled and rapped an arm around my shoulder.

"So, I heard you got into a little trouble." He said.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I said.

"So, are you going to elaborate?" he asked, obviously wanting to know what happened

"Well, I would, but Dr. Goldstein really needs to make sure I am not going to die from internal bleeding, even though I have been up and walking around for a good 5 hours." Carlisle rolled his eyes.

"I'll tell him that I am taking you home. I'll check you out later if I need to, but from the looks of you I think you're alright." He said as he grabbed my shoulders and gave me a light squeeze. I led him to where Dr. Goldstein was still standing.

"Dr. Cullen." Goldstein said with a bit of shock. "I wasn't expecting you to be here so soon. I was about to examine your son, but…" Carlisle cut him off.

"That won't be necessary Dr. I believe I can handle it from here. I'll just take him home. Thank you for your assistance." He said sticking out his hand. Dr. Goldstein took it and shook it rather emphatically.

"Anytime, Dr. Cullen." Carlisle chuckled as he led me out of the hospital. I knew my dad was a very well-respected doctor, but I didn't realize people got so weird when they met him.

"Ok, now you need to tell me exactly what happened from start to finish." He said as we walked up to his car.

"Well, I was stuck in traffic and had been for six hours, so, when I saw a truck in front of me pull of onto a back road, I decided if I did the same thing, at least I would be moving. I thought I could just readjust my GPS accordingly." Carlisle nodded and I continued. "Anyway, the roads were messy, and the person driving the truck in front of me lost control and I ended up slamming into them and they slammed into a ditch." I said shrugging my shoulders. "I got her out of her truck, and fixed her up as best I could with the first aid kit Alice put in my car." Carlisle laughed and shook his head.

"Better to be safe than sorry." He quoted what Alice had said when she put the first aid kit in my car.

"Yeah, well, remind me to thank her when we get home." I said with a chuckle.

"So, I'm assuming the girl in the other car was ok?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"More or less. I patched her up as best I could, but I'm pretty sure she was putting on a happy face at some points. She was tough, very stubborn, but also very…laid back and easy to talk to. We talked for hours. I can't remember the last time I actually wanted to talk to someone for hours." I said smiling to myself.

"Oh boy, who was she?" Carlisle asked, obviously picking up on the fact that I had feelings for her.

"Um…Bella Swan."

"Bella Swan?" Carlisle asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Yeah…do you know her or something?" He was acting the same way Charlie had when I told him my name. Carlisle took one of his hands off the wheel and rubbed the side of his face while he chuckled to himself. This was getting kind of annoying. What was so funny? He placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Son" he laughed again. "Did you, by any chance, find out where Bella is from?" he asked me with a knowing look.

"Yeah, she's from Phoenix." I said in a matter of fact tone.

"No, did you ever find out where her dad lives?" he asked.

"No…" I said. He clapped his hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze before returning it to the wheel.

"Well then, it looks like we have a lot to talk about, Son." He said with a gleam in his eye that made my heart swell with hope.

**A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed it! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

BPOV

Charlie was taking entirely too long. I had been sitting in this stupid car at this stupid gas station for way too long. I was not in the mood. Maybe that was it; he was in their trying to escape my depressing attitude. I, admittedly, hadn't been the most engaging car companion as we made our way home. I had actually been kind of horrible. I just sat their, looking out the window, thinking of…you guessed it, Edward. I just couldn't wrap my brain around the fact that I wouldn't see him again. That was so final, too final. I felt like the few hours we spent together were some of the best hours of my life. My thoughts were interrupted by Charlie opening the car door. I glanced over at him as he got in.

"Well, that took forever." I said sounding bored.

"Sorry Bella, I really didn't even think you noticed that I got out of the car, so I didn't think you'd mind." He said. That was probably true.

"It's alright. I don't mind. I'm just sorry I haven't really talked to you this whole time, I guess I've been a little out of it." I said with a shrug.

"It's ok. You know me; I'm not really the talking type." He said reassuring me. He started the car and we drove out of the gas station. Charlie and I continued our silent pattern as we made our way home.

It seemed like we let out a collective sigh as we pulled into our driveway. I was getting ready to hop out of the cruiser, but Charlie's voice stopped me.

"Hey, Bells?" he said hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Uh oh, this couldn't be good. Charlie hardly ever asked for things, and at this point I wasn't really in the position to say no, was I? Oh well, I probably wouldn't have said no anyway.

"I was just wondering, I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, it won't hurt my feelings…but, would you want to go to the town's Christmas party with me? I mean, it's kind of nice, so you'd have to wear a dress and…" I just stared at him. The town was having a Christmas party? Since when did this start? He took my silence as hesitation. "Like I said, it's stupid, you don't have to. It's not a big deal; I just thought it would be fun." He rambled.

"Dad, of course I'll go with you." I assured him. Why was this event such a big deal? He seemed really uncomfortable asking me to go with him or at the very least, he seemed nervous that I would say no.

"Ok, it's tomorrow night and I…well, just follow me inside." He said as he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door.

"ok…" I was really confused. Why would Charlie want to go to a party on Christmas Eve? He hated parties. The Charlie I know would never go out and socialize unless I made him. This wasn't adding up. Charlie headed toward the door and let us both inside and then he immediately headed up to my room. I followed him in and immediately noticed that lying on my bed was a dark blue dress.

"Dad?" I said with shock. "You didn't have to buy me a dress…" I said looking down at the beautiful dress before me.

"Well, the lady at the store picked it out. I mean, you needed a dress…so…" he said looking extremely awkward.

"Dad, this is really nice." I said giving him a hug. I was going to ask him what all this was about but he started speaking before I could.

"Are you sure? If you don't like it—"

I cut him off. "Dad! It's amazing! Thank you…I just didn't realize the hospital party required such elegant attire." I said giving his shoulder a little push. He laughed and looked down at his feet.

"Well, it's pretty formal, I have to wear a suit…and if I'm going to be uncomfortable, so are you." He said in a very matter of fact manner.

"Need I remind you that _you_ are the one dragging _me_ to this shin dig?" I said putting a hand on my hip.

"That's true. Thanks for going with me Bells. It, you know, means a lot."

"Your welcome…" I said, the confusion evident on my face. Charlie was thanking me profusely for going with him to some party that I know he wouldn't normally want to go to. There was something that Charlie wasn't telling me…

**A/N: this is what Bella's dress looks like: . **

* * *

I stared at myself in the mirror as I assessed the work that had to be done. My hair was wet and limp from the shower I had just taken. My face was average, nothing special there. I sighed as my shoulders slumped a little and I fiddled with the fabric of the dress that was still lying idly on my bed. I had always known these things about myself, but ever since I met Edward the difference between us, physically, was astronomical. I was still thinking about him. I actually hadn't stopped thinking about him in the last 24 hours. I didn't even stop thinking about him in my sleep. I dreamed about him all night. Geez, I was pathetic.

I sighed again and headed to the bathroom to dry my hair, hoping it would help. I didn't know exactly how formal this thing was, seeing as I had never been to a "town Christmas party" before, but Charlie had made it sound like I needed to look presentable, so this was me trying to look presentable. I blow dried my hair until I felt it was sufficiently dry and then I curled the ends. After a couple more minutes passed as I messed around with it, I gave up and just let it fall into loose curls down my back. I went to my room and looked down at the dress for the millionth time. I sighed and found myself starting to think about Edward again. I couldn't help but notice that every time I wasn't actively trying to think of something else, my thoughts immediately centered on him. It was extremely frustrating. I looked down at the dress again and rolled my eyes as I began taking it off its hanger. I slipped it on and stepped over to the mirror. It actually fit perfectly. I was really surprised; I hadn't really expected Charlie to be able to pick out my size.

I put on a little makeup and some lip gloss and headed for my closet to find shoes. While I tried to focus on trying to coordinate the color of my shoes and my dress, I heard a knock on my door.

"Yeah?" I called, knowing who it would be.

"Can I come in, Bells?" Charlie asked, his voice sounding muffled because of the door that separated us.

"Yeah, come on in." I said as I continued to try to focus on shoes instead of the boy I wouldn't see again. Charlie walked in and laughed when he saw me sitting on the floor looking into my closet. He laughed until he saw my face.

"Bells, what's wrong?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Nothing, Dad. I'm fine and I'm almost ready. I just need shoes." I said trying to reassure him.

"Bella, you are not fine." He knelt down and lifted my chin so he could see my face properly. "Honey, are you crying?"

"No I'm not crying!" I was slightly offended, until he moved his thumb across my cheek to wipe away the tear I wasn't aware of.

"Bella, what's wrong?" He asked, his voice was soft, but stern.

"Dad, I'm fine, it's just been a hectic couple of days. I'm just glad to be home. Now, let's go to this party." I said looking back at my closet and grabbing the shoes that were closest to me. I glanced back up at Charlie and he didn't seem convinced.

"Fine." He said after a minute. "Promise me though, that if there is something I can do, you'll tell me." He said as we stood up. I slipped my shoes on and used his shoulder to keep me from falling over. I looked back up at him.

"I promise." There was nothing anyone could do. I just had a stupid crush and, if given the time, it would go away. Charlie put his arm out and I took it as we walked out of my room.

"Hey Bells?" Charlie whispered as we went out of my room.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"You look beautiful." He said looking down at me as we walked.

"Thanks" I smiled up at him.

I grabbed my coat and my purse and we headed for the door.

**A/N: This was kind of a 'filler' chapter. Probably only one more chapter left…**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

BPOV

Charlie and I arrived at the hospital and I was surprised by the ridiculous amount of cars that were already parked in the lot. I didn't even realize Forks had this many people. We got out of the car and I walked to his side.

"Here we go," I said as I looked over at him. He looked kind of nervous. "You good, Dad?" I asked nudging his arm.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm just now remembering that I'm not really a 'party person'."

"Then why the heck are we here?" I asked.

"Because, it'll be good for you." He stated as he started heading for the door. I ran after him and followed him inside.

I shot Charlie an impressed look when someone offered to take my coat at the door.

"Yeah, sure thanks." I said to the lady as I shook my snow covered coat off. I leaned over to Charlie and whispered, "Geez, I didn't realize the hospital got this classy while I was gone." Charlie rolled his eyes at me, but nodded.

"I told you this thing was formal." He said in an 'I told ya so' kind of way. He started heading over to the main floor and I was surprised by the number of people that already covered the area. Most of them were on a make shift dance floor that truly wasn't make shift at all, it actually looked like it had been there forever. I immediately felt my stomach drop. I don't know why I was shocked, of course there would be dancing at a party I didn't want to be at in the first place. I scanned the crowd and tried to push aside the negative feelings I was already beginning to have. I took note of the extremely elaborate decorations, whoever they hired do decorate this place did an insanely amazing job.

There were at least ten Christmas trees just on this floor, and they weren't those dinky little artificial ones, they were huge and decorated to perfection. The lighting was dim and warm due to the Christmas-y lights that were hanging everywhere. It seemed as though the inside of the hospital had been transformed into a winter wonderland. I was brought back to reality when I heard Charlie's voice.

"Hey, you want to get something to eat?" I could tell he was already eyeing the buffet table. I hadn't even noticed it yet…it was…exorbitant. That was the only word I could think of. There was probably more food and more varieties of food on that table than I had ever seen in my entire life. There were turkeys, ham, roast beef, every side you could imagine, and don't even get me started on the desserts.

"Dude…" I whispered as I stared at the table.

"Yeah, I know." Charlie said with his eyes completely lit up and a big smile on his face as he continued to ogle at the table. I laughed at him and nodded as we headed over to the mountain of food. I looked over at Charlie when he seemed happy with the mass amount of food that he had piled on his plate.

I followed Charlie as he walked contentedly back to a table with my significantly less substantial plate of food in my hands. We sat down and he immediately began to dig in. I looked around the room and moved some food around my plate, taking a couple bites here and there.

"You gonna eat, Bells?" Charlie asked as he momentarily looked up at me.

"Yeah, I'm just having more fun watching you demolish that plate of food." I leaned back in my seat and laughed at him. Charlie looked sheepish but his eyes left my face and moved up and slightly to my left. I heard someone clear their throat behind me and I followed Charlie's gaze as I glanced back.

"Hey Bella! Long time no see!!" Mike Newton said in an exuberant voice. I tried to keep the smile on my face from faltering or turning into a grimace as I answered back.

"Oh, hey Mike. How's it going?"

"It's going great! Hey, do you want to dance?" I was a little shocked by his forwardness, after all I hadn't seen him since high school, and it took me a moment to stutter my way through an answer.

"I-I-y-um…sure?" It came out as more of a question as I glanced over at Charlie and caught him chuckling and rolling his eyes. Mike's face lit up a little too much, which worried me. I knew he had a little thing for me in high school, but I thought maybe, hopefully, he had gotten past that. He put his hand out and I took it warily. I took another quick look at Charlie and this time I caught his eye and I gave him a look that clearly said if he didn't save me I would kill him. He gave me a little nod and I turned to follow Mike to the dance floor.

I knew this was going to be awkward…beyond belief. He fumbled to grab my hand and he swayed me awkwardly to the song. Being me and my incredibly uncoordinated self, I probably stepped on his toes at least ten times in the short amount of time we were dancing. He started talking to me, so I pried my eyes away from my feet and glanced up at his face. "Bella, how have you been? It's been forever." Mike said in a very low whisper.

"Umm…I've been alright. College has been nice." We both awkwardly kept dancing and he struggled to make conversation because I certainly wasn't going to help. I was hoping he would cut the dance short and never talk to me again.

"Bella, you are gorgeous, you know that?" Mike said, trying to make eye contact with me. He pulled me closer to him and I looked up at his face. I gave him a slight nod to let him know I had heard him, but I wasn't going to address his statement.

"Hey, how is Jessica, last time I checked you guys were going out after high school and going to the same college?" I stated excitedly.

"Oh, um…she's alright. She couldn't come tonight so I'm all alone." He said with a little emphasis at the end.

"That's awesome that you guys are still together. It's been a while, hasn't it?" I said, keeping the topic of conversation on her.

"Yeah, yeah, it has." He said sounding a bit resentful. I wasn't really sure how to take his answer, so I just looked back down at my feet and tried not to fall on my face.

"Why couldn't Jess come tonight?" I asked him.

"Oh, she didn't have anything to wear." He said rolling his eyes for a moment, then continuing. "I only really heard about this party this morning and I asked her if she wanted to go with me, but she was mad about my 'late notice'." He said with annoyance.

"Really?" I asked shocked. "I thought Forks started doing annual Christmas parties or something. When Charlie told me about it he made it sound like they had been having one for the past couple of years."

"No, we haven't had anything like this before. I am surprised it looks this good, actually." He said looking around and taking note of the elaborate decorations. He took a deep breath and appeared to be about to say something else, but the song ended and before he could say anything I dropped his hand, looked up at him and thanked him for the dance as I ran back to my table. I sat down with a huff and threw a glare at Charlie.

"Thanks, _Dad._" I hissed.

"What?" Charlie said in mock disbelief.

"What do you mean 'what'? I told you to save me!" I stated glaring at him. Some dad he was. He rolled his eyes.

"Bella, it looked like you had everything under control to me. And besides, you didn't technically 'tell' me anything." He said, quite obtusely if you ask me. Under control? Seriously?

I rolled my eyes at him. "Well, thanks for nothing." I said, giving him another glare. "I'm glad you were more concerned with finishing the food on your plate than helping your only daughter out of a humiliating situation. That's really awesome." I chided.

"Bells, I'm sorry. I'll remember that for next time." He said grinning at me.

"Next time?" I said with confusion. I felt a little tap on my shoulder and in turn I felt my insides tighten up. My mouth formed into a tight line on my face and my eyes were as big as saucers as I stared down at the table, not wanting to look behind me. I slowly turned and rearranged my face into something that was somewhat less rude. I plastered a on a small smile as I looked up at the person who had tapped on my shoulder. Joy, it was Eric Yorkie. What was this, a high school reunion?

"Hey, Bella! I haven't seen you in forever!" he said enthusiastically.

"Hey, Eric, yeah it's been a while" I said through my teeth. I started to turn around, all the sudden becoming very interested in the food I had barely started eating.

"Oh, Bella, I was wondering if you wanted to dance?" my smile faltered a bit.

"Can I take a rain check? I'm starving and I haven't really gotten to eat yet?" I asked. Hopefully he would get the hint.

"Yeah, that's fine, I'll catch you in a bit." He said, undeterred. I let out another huff of air and turned back to my plate. I glanced up at Charlie and he was laughing.

"This is not funny." I stated.

"Oh, come on, Bells. It's a little funny." I jabbed at a piece of chicken on my plate and popped it into my mouth as I made a face at him.

"Well, I'm going to go and walk around a bit, you want to come?" Charlie asked.

"Nah, I'll stay and finish eating. I can't really let Eric see me up and walking around now can I?" I stated.

"Alright." Charlie said with a chuckle and he turned and disappeared into the mass of people.

I sat there, absentmindedly putting food in my mouth here and there, admittedly zoning out a bit. I must have been sitting there for a while, just staring at my plate because I was brought back to reality when someone began speaking to me. "Bella, do you want to dance?" I looked up in mock horror when I found Charlie standing in front of me holding out his hand.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. Why do you insist on teasing me so?" I asked him, sarcasm dripping from my words.

"Come on, Bells. I'm being serious, or did you want to wait for that Yorkie kid to come back?" He said, obviously not taking no for an answer. I thought about his logic and hesitantly got out of my seat.

"Fine." I said rolling my eyes. He was so stubborn.

Charlie and I walked out to the dance floor and started dancing. It was actually a really sweet 'father, daughter' moment, which was kind of a rarity.

"So, are you feeling any better, Bells?" he asked me, looking down.

"Yeah, Dad. This party has been really great, thanks for taking me." I stated in all seriousness. I mean it had at least been a nice distraction. Except for the fact that every single song that was being played at this dang party I recognized as being songs on Edward's ipod. Oh the irony. Why did I seem to relate everything about tonight back to him?

"No problem, I'm just happy that you came with me." He said. The song ended and new one began, one I immediately recognized, Claire De Lune. I rolled my eyes and laughed to myself as the music filled the room. I looked around as all the couples dispersed and lowered my head as my thoughts drifted back to Edward. How could they not? Charlie let go of my hand and leaned down to my ear.

"Merry Christmas, Bells." I glanced back in front of me, but no one was there. I got a little panicked and immediately scanned the crowd for Charlie. He was just here! Suddenly, someone grabbed my waste and took my hand and I immediately realized I was now forcibly dancing with Eric Yorkie.

"Hey Bella!" Eric said, obviously pleased with his smooth move.

"Hey Eric" I stated a little resentfully. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a retreating figure, one that I had seen a million times tonight, but only in my mind. I saw his messy bronze hair and his tall frame. I lowered my head and mentally berated myself for reaching a new low of the night, hallucination.

"So, Bella, how is life going for you?" Eric asked

"Oh, it's going. You know, school takes up most of my time, so…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean, all work and no play." He said. I had only barely registered what he had said because suddenly, my heart skipped a beat, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. My feet were glued to the floor and I just stared, slack-jawed, at the man with green eyes and messy bronze hair that was making his way toward me. Our eyes met and I couldn't break the contact. Eric looked at me with confusion because I had stopped our awkward swaying.

Before I could even comprehend what was happening Edward was standing in front of me, with that crooked smile on his lips. "Wha—" was all I managed to get out before he turned to Eric, breaking our eye contact. I tried to catch my now shallow breath.

"Do you mind if I cut in?" Eric seemed to be as shocked as I was, probably not for the same reasons, but shocked nonetheless.

"Uh…sure Cullen." Eric said dejectedly.

"Thanks, Eric" Edward said giving him a nod as Eric walked off the dance floor, shaking his head. Edward then proceeded to take my hand and spin me around as he started swaying me in little circles. The way he was holding me, I couldn't make my brain work enough to even ask him why he was here, or how he had gotten here, or how any of this was happening. Five minutes ago I didn't think I would ever see him again, and now, all the sudden he is standing right in front of me. Not only that, he is dancing with me, holding me tight, tighter than I had ever been held.

"Bella." Edward whispered. Before he said anything else, I had to get my brain working and I had to get some answers.

"Edward, how are you here right now? And how do you know Eric?" I asked, stopping our movement and looking up at him. He looked a little surprised by my action, but recovered quickly.

"Well, you know, we learned a lot about each other when we were stranded together, but somehow we skipped over the fact that we both live in Forks." He looked like he was going to continue, but I cut him off.

"We both live here?! How can we possibly both live here and not know it?! This is basically the smallest town known to mankind!" I asked him incredulously.

"My thoughts exactly, but when you think about it, it makes sense. You moved here before I did, and you were off to college by the time I got here. You didn't come home last year, at least not often enough to really catch up on things, and when I moved here I immediately went to college. I guess we just missed each other." He stated in a very matter of fact manner, shrugging his shoulders. While he may have had some time to come to grips with this information, my mind was reeling.

"We just missed each other?" I repeated, still trying to understand what was going on.

"And, in answer to your other question, I am here because of those two." He said nodding to his left.

I looked over and saw Charlie and someone, I could only assume it was Dr. Cullen, shaking hands and talking amongst themselves, with random glances in our direction.

"Oh God, what did they do?" I asked suspiciously. Edward took my hand and started dancing with me once more.

"Let's just say they helped arrange this whole thing." He said slyly.

"What do you mean, what whole thing?" I said narrowing my eyes at him.

"Well, when Carlisle just happened to witness me almost pull my hair out when I didn't catch you before you left the hospital, he of course asked me what was going on. I told him about what had happened and I told him about you, and he obviously knew who you were." He said, pausing to laugh at my confused expression, and then continued. "Well, I guess he thought this would be a perfect time to have a hospital Christmas party." He stated.

"Are you telling me he planned this thing in less than 24 hours?!" I asked, flabbergasted. Edward looked away from me grinning and laughing to himself. "How is that even possible?!" I demanded.

"You really need to meet Alice. I guarantee you she was the one who 'planned' this thing in less than 24 hours. She has many years of practice and was literally bouncing off the walls when Carlisle told her about it." He stated. "Anyway, my dad figured that would be a great way to meet up again because there was little to no chance we would miss each other. That's where your dad came in." He said grinning at me.

"My dad? What did Charlie do?"

"Was there any point on your way home when Charlie got out of the car, or you didn't see him for an extended period of time?" he asked, his brows furrowing. I racked my brain, trying to remember.

"Yeah, we stopped at a gas station and he…was in there forever." I said when the pieces started coming together in my mind. "I didn't even think any thing of it when he was in there for a long time. I just figured I was depressing him or something, I didn't even question it."

"Well, he was probably in there talking to my dad on the phone." He paused for a second, like he was thinking about something I said that bothered him. "Why would you be depressing Charlie?" he asked. I panicked for a moment. I hadn't even realized I had said that until it was already out of my mouth.

"Eh…it's not important. What was he talking to your dad about?" I asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Trying to get you to come to this thing, of course." He said as if I were missing the point. "And you're not getting off that easily, why were you sad?" he asked again, the concern was evident in his voice.

"It really isn't a big deal. I just was a little upset when I didn't think I would see you again, that's all." I said almost inaudibly, but somehow he caught it.

"Hey," he said as he lifted my chin so I was looking into his eyes, "I almost had a mental breakdown in the hospital when I realized you were gone and I thought I wasn't going to see you again." He said with a reassuring smile. "So, I am sure whatever you were like with Charlie seemed tame."

"Well, there were definitely less witnesses." I said, messing around with him.

"That's true." He said with a chuckle. "I think Dr. Goldstein was seriously considering committing me. It's a good thing Carlisle came when he did." He laughed.

The song ended and Edward and I stopped dancing. I actually had forgotten we were dancing at all, a stark difference from my hyper awareness when I was dancing with Mike and Eric. Well, I guess that's not entirely true because I was hyper aware of the fact that Edward's hand was at the small of my back and our close proximity had hardly escaped me. I was surprised, and admittedly impressed that I was able to actually form sentences while we were this close. He took my hand and led me over to where Charlie and Dr. Cullen were still standing. Edward walked over and shook Charlie's hand.

"Chief Swan, I am very happy to be seeing you again." Edward said gratefully. "Thank you for everything you did."

Charlie smiled at him. "Yeah, well, you're welcome. I got a little worried there in the middle when Yorkie interrupted the 'hand-off'." Charlie said with a smirk.

"Yeah I know. That was a most inopportune moment, wasn't it?" Edward said with a chuckle.

"Well, you did good kid, and I only did this stuff to make sure that Bella's happy." He said as he glanced down at me for confirmation. He looked more at ease when he saw the genuine smile on my face. Edward turned to his father and put his arm around my waste.

"Dad, there's someone I would like for you to meet." He said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and laughed. I stuck out my hand and Dr. Cullen shook it.

"It's nice to officially meet you." Dr. Cullen said.

"Yes it is." I said smiling. "And, you know, thanks. I'm not even sure how to repay you guys. I mean, you went to way too—" With that I was pushed backwards and I would have been on the ground if Edward had not been behind me as a little pixie girl smashed into me.

"Alice!" Edward yelled. "What are you doing?!" he set me up straight and Alice pulled back with the biggest smile I had ever seen. I couldn't help but laugh. She stuck out her hand and I took it as she shook my hand eagerly.

"I'm Alice, and you must be Bella." She said still smiling at me.

"Yes." I said with a smile in return. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Have you?" she said as she threw a glare at Edward.

"All good things, though" I pointed out. Edward gave me a thankful smile and continued to scold his sister.

"Alice, you can't just tackle people like that. Especially people you have never met. You know, these are just life rules in general, ones that I would have thought you'd know by now, ones that I am pretty sure every other sane person on the planet is familiar with." Alice rolled her eyes and ignored her brother.

"Sorry for tackling you, Bella. I am just really excited to finally meet you. Well, I guess I have only known about you for a short time, but it feels like forever, especially the way Edward has been going on and on." She said with a knowing smirk. I glanced over at Edward and cocked an eyebrow. He looked mortified. With that, he took my hand and looked pointedly at his sister.

"_We_ are going to walk around outside for a bit, get some fresh air." He looked back at Charlie and Carlisle, "Thanks again. I really don't know what I would have done without your help." They both gave us a nod and with that we headed for the doors. Edward grabbed my coat and he led me outside. We began walking around the hospital courtyard and I shivered a bit.

"You ok? You want my coat?" he asked with a smirk. "Or would body heat be enough for you?"

"Very funny." I laughed and smacked his arm. "I will have you know that we are no longer in a life threatening situation, so no extreme measures need to be taken." I stated.

"Well, that's disappointing." He chuckled. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"So you guys were talking about me in football terms?" I asked pointedly. Edward cocked an eyebrow in question. "You know, I believe 'Yorkie interrupted the hand-off' were the exact words, but I could be wrong."

"Oh, yeah." Edward laughed for a moment. "Your dad seemed a little more in his element when we spoke in 'sports lingo'."

"Ah…that makes sense."

Edward took my hand and stopped our walking as he leaned down. He was mere centimeters from my face and I could feel his warm breath on my skin, contrasting with the coldness of the night. He gently brushed his lips to mine.

"Bella," he said my name in a husky tone. I stood up on my toes to close the space between us. Our lips crashed together and moved at rapid speeds as my fingers tangled in his hair and he lifted me slightly off the ground. I felt like there was nothing in the world that could be more perfect than this moment, right now. Edward and I met under the most unlikely circumstances and after I thought I would never see him again, he was here. He set me down gently and we reluctantly broke apart.

"Wow." Edward said with a ragged breath. "I can't tell you how much I have wanted to do that ever since I met you." He said with a wide smile.

I looked up at him and smiled wider.

"Touchdown."

**A/N: hope you liked it!!! Sorry it took me so long!! **


End file.
